Kichen Counter - How to Keep It Uncluttered??

I used to keep them all out too and then one day it just hit me that EVERYTHING was out and I hated it! So I have a shelf by my washer and dryer in the laundry room so I have them all in there now. The laundry room is right next to the kitchen so its convenient. I still use everything about once a week also and it is kind of a pain to go get them and put them back but I really like how its freed up the counters. I still have the Foreman grill, toaster, knife block, coffee maker and fruit bowls out but its better with the otehr stuff put away. Good luck!!!

I barely have any counter space, but I do have good cabnet storage, so I keep everything in the cabnets. I do keep the toaster out because I use it almost daily, but that's about it. Oh and the rice maker because my husbands has to have rice with all his meals, lol!

I have a pantry and cabinets. If you don't have either, do you have a closet near the kitchen to sacrifice? You could purchase shelving and make it into a pantry where you can store small appliances.

What about the garage? If you have an attached garage, you could buy a nice storage cabinet that locks (so things don't get musty etc.) and store them in there.

We keep our stuff in the laundry room. It is the only place in the house that has adequate storage. Slightly inconvenient that it is in another room, but our home is small so it is really not that big a deal.

I put all the small appliances in the top cabinets that I can't quite reach (top of the fridge and a few others). And I have a step stool so that I can get them down when needed.

Cluttered counters are the worst!

The first thing I did when we moved to our house is get rid of our electric can opener and opted for one of those old fashion hand twist ones. I hated looking at the can opener on the countertop and the hand held fits nicely in a drawer.

We use our toaster once or twice a week so I store it in a cabinet right near the stove where it can easily be moved to the countertop for use then stored out of site.

I store my waffle iron/griddle etc. in the cabinets above my fridge, oven and microwave. Those rarely get use but are still handy when I need them.

The only appliance that I leave out is my coffee maker. I have a knife block and a fruit basket that sit out but that is it. It sure makes the kitchen look a lot nicer!

I got rid of several appliance 'gadgets' that I never really used. Who needs a grill, a griddle, a waffle maker and a sandwich maker?! Consolidate!!

One place I stored them in the pantry and one place I stored them in a cabnit under/near the outlet I used them at and here I have a corner lazy suzan unit that perfectly holds my food processor, blender, ninja, hand mixer, stand mixer and accessories. I like the lazy suzan because I can easily locate the items. I keep my coffee maker and my toaster on the counter b/c we use them daily (almost). I have a two slice toaster not a large one and I keep it on top of the microwave to keep it out of the way (microwave is on the counter not built in), and save counter space.

Since my counter space is prime real estate in my kitchen. I have one cabinet dedicated to small appliances. So the toaster, blender, coffee grinder and electric can opener are all neatly in there. The waffle iron is on the top of the stainless steel rack in the kitchen which serves as a pantry of sorts. The coffee maker and microwave are on the counter top at different ends. My sink is the the far left corner of the counter top which is most helpful. It maximized the space between the sink and stove.

Most small appliances go in our basement or in cabinets. The coffee pot and toaster oven are all we keep out. The can opener and hand mixer are mounted on the walls.

We also have purchased several appliances that have multiple functions - like a blender/food processor and that really helps. Also I invested in new bowls, tupperware, etc. so everything nests together again and sent all the "old" stuff up to the family lake house.

I saw this great idea about pantries...we have one of those pantries where the top shelf is very high up and goes all the way up to the ceiling - mostly unusable space. I took my MOST used platters, muffin tins and serving trays and put them up there in stand up plate stands.. shopped at The Container Store. So instead of stacking those on top of each other and taking up valuable cabinet space, they all stand up in their own vertical holder! (Think 1 stand that has 5 "bookends" in it - creating a verticle way to stack the platters on their sides.)

It's great because before I hardly used that top shelf. They're out of the way so I don't have to worry about them getting chipped. And I've got my cabinet space back!

It's really worth it to "invest" in some new multifunction appliances or storage solutions.

I store mine in the cabinets under the counter... well not the toaster, but we use that almost every day.

I use those weird, odd sized cabinets over fridge, sink & stove for waffle
maker, coffee grinder etc.

On my counter I have:
coffee pot
toaster (we use almost daily)
Spoon rest
Tray for mail, his keys, phone chargers
Big mixer (putting away today underneath in cabinets today!!) :)

One weekend, take everyiting out of your kitchen. Everything. Give your cabinets and drawers a good scrub. For the next week, only bring in the things you actually use. During the next weekend, dispose of or store everything else. You will be shocked how little goes back in.

I keep my toaster on a buffet table and bring it to the counter occasionally. I leave out my slow cooker, can opener, coffee maker, and container of spoons/spatulas, etc. I have one big cabinet under my stove where I store my food processor, mixer and couple of big things. I have one shelve in my basement where I store nice things I rarely use like a chaffing dish and bread baskets.

What I want to know is how to keep my husabnd and kids from leaving their junk all over my clean kitchen counters.

My toasters (we have two, one gf) are both on the counter as we use them almost daily, as well as the coffee maker (gets used three times a day!).

Everything else is in a cabinet. If you only use it once a week, you ought to store it. If you don't have any cabinet space, I'd get a rubbermaid tote and store them all in it in the basement (or closet, wherever) and take out what you need when you need it...but make sure it's completely cooled before restoring, of course. :)

I store mine in the small cabinets above the stove. I only have my can opener, lid opener, toaster and coffee maker on my counter. On the small side counter opposite the sink, I have my rice pot because we use that every day.

Keeping your counter uncluttered requires the actual effort of putting things away when you're finished. I know it is just so easy to leave things out in the open because we do it in our house too. Our toaster stays out on the counter because we use it just about every morning, but the waffle iron and griddle are under the counter close to where we plug them in.

I had my husband put up an extra shelf in the laundry area and I just store my bigger items there: George Foreman grill, CrocPot and griddle. It's been a real space saver. I live in an apt and space is definitely limited in the kitchen.
Hope that helps.

i broke down and got those wire racks that go in your cabinets that slide in and out on tracks and set aside one of the larger under counter cabinets to hold all these items. I use them enough, though, that the slide keeps it from being cumbersome.
I even do this with my toaster that I use daily. once I am finished with it, I put it on the rack, slide it in and no hassle and it isn't out on the counter.

Well, I don't have much counter space, but I DO have a large walk in pantry. I don't keep anything at all except the coffee maker (used at least twice a day) on the counter. I cook a lot in my silly little kitchen, so I need all the real estate I can get! Everything else I use is kept relatively handy on a shelf in the pantry (not in any way to suggest it's a tidy lovely ORGANIZED pantry, of course).

Keeping up with the STUFF those PEOPLE drop on my island is a story for another post! grrrrrrr, teehee!

;)